


Seeing Light From On Top of the World

by Awesomeist0



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Magic, Arranged Marriage, HHH and Stephanie's A+ Parenting, Human Sacrifice, M/M, Mildly Dubious Consent, Secret Relationship, Seth is an asshole, Shapeshifting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-20
Updated: 2019-03-20
Packaged: 2019-11-26 11:01:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18179747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Awesomeist0/pseuds/Awesomeist0
Summary: They were supposed to be enemies.The mysterious chieftain.  And the adopted, unwanted prince.  Their lives were never supposed to entwine, not outside of brutal skirmishes between their people.  But one night, when his first attempt at shifting goes horribly wrong, Finn finds himself at the mercy of a man he would sooner have seen dead.Sami has no idea that the injured snow leopard he's nursing back to health is one of his father's enemies.  All he knows is that he finally has something to care for, since his own family barely cares that he's still breathing.  They think he's useless.  Nowhere near as strong and capable as their biological son.But all of that changes when they expect him to make the ultimate sacrifice.  He's pure.  Untainted.  And utterly expendable. So Sami must give his life willingly to appease their gods.And Finn won't let that happen.





	Seeing Light From On Top of the World

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to clarify the dubcon tag. There is no, repeat NO sexual violence in this story. But Seth and Charlotte are forced into an arranged marriage that neither is happy with. And Drew McIntyre...he gets a bit *obsessed* with Sami. Although nothing noncon happens, he pushes rather hard for a relationship that Sami doesn't want.

_ //“You’re an idiot.”// _

 

Finn could actually feel his sister’s words rattling around in his brain, echoing against his skull until he was deafened to everything but his own annoyance.  Ancestors, he would never hear the end of this one. He’d been warned...browbeaten into submission, really, by everyone he knew. Rebecca, of course, and his closest friends and even the High Druid had all hammered home the same point.

 

Never.  NEVER practise shapeshifting without someone more experienced watching.  Too much could go wrong.

 

And it had.

 

Finn was impatient.  The High Druid would not be back for weeks, and there was no one in the village who could match him in raw magical talent.  Finn tried to ignore it as long as he could, but he could feel the energy within him pulsing. Growing and ripping at his insides until one night, he had to go do it.  He had to shift or his body would rip apart from the anxious pressure.

 

So he snuck out.  Alone. To the little clearing in the forest, the one all

 

_ //but him// _

 

had been forbidden to enter.  It had always been so beautiful here.  Isolated but thrumming with untapped magic.  Unfortunately, one day, his scouts reported that Helmsley’s men had been spotted out here setting traps for the wildlife. It was a dangerous scenario finding them this close; while the two groups weren’t at war persay, that was mostly due to the fact that the king found Finn’s people to be too insignificant to officially declare against.  But they would continue to attack. And kill each other on sight. So Finn officially forbade all of his people from straying this far from the village.

 

Of course, since he made the rules, they didn’t apply to  _ him _ .

 

He exhaled bitterly, startling backward in shock at the inhuman growl that left his mouth. Everything hurt.  His muscles were sore from the sudden change as he stumbled forward on four legs that should have been two. Snow crunched up beneath the furred pads of his paws and while it didn’t hurt, the sudden cold felt jarring.

 

To make matters worse, all of his clothes lay utterly shredded on the ground where he transformed.

 

Finn nuzzled his ironbark circlet, yelping in pain when one of the sharp decorations jabbed him in the suddenly sensitive nose.  This was the worst. The absolute  _ worst _ thing that had ever happened to him.  He had to get back to his village, that much was given, but to what end? His magic refused to cave to his desperate attempts to control it as the more he tried, the more his brain throbbed.  When he did make it back, it wasn’t as if he could tell anyone what had happened. The hunters would see him and probably kill him on sight since he appeared to be nothing more than…

 

Huh.

 

Finn didn’t know what he now was.

 

He was significantly smaller.  With four legs and large paws and thick fur as clean and white as newly fallen snow.  A long tail tangled in his hind legs, throwing off his already clumsy gait and making him growl in frustration.  Above him, birds perched in the leafless trees seemed to be watching him, their sleepy early songs dripping with condescending amusement.  They’d all think he’d run away and abandoned them and Rebecca would take over as Chieftain and fuck-his sister was brilliant but incredibly hot headed and it would only be a matter of time before-

 

Finn screamed in agony as cold fire seemed to clamp down hard into his leg.  He forced himself jerkily forward, his vision graying as the metal trap rattled behind him.  He was done for.

*

Sami felt the scream even before he heard it; his heart skipping beats within his chest and goosebumps that had nothing to do with the cold breaking out across his clammy skin.  He froze in his tracks, surrounded by nothing but the pre dawn stillness split by the thunderlike *crunch* of Kevin’s heavy footsteps in the snow. “Did you hear that?”

 

His friend

 

_ //at this point, he liked to consider Kevin a friend and not just his protector under the guise of a disgruntled babysitter// _

 

turned around to glare at him.  “Jumping at shadows again?” Kevin’s gruff voice was tinged with the strain of an early morning patrol, with nowhere near enough sleep to get him through the coming hours.  Such was the burden of a new parent. Sami hoped that maybe, someday he’d be able to meet Kevin’s wife and child. But that assumed Kevin even wanted to bring him around the two actual most important people in his life.  And that his parents would let him leave.

 

Not that they knew he was out here right now.

 

He loved these early morning patrols with Kevin.  They were far enough away from the castle that there was rarely any danger out here, save for the occasional bandit or rumored  _ Badb _ attack.  

 

Even the thought of them made Sami shudder.

 

The  _ Badb _ were all too real.  They’d been painted in tales as nothing more than sadistic savages, wanting nothing more than to attack without provocation and feast on the blood of innocents.  They were the threat that mothers used to tame disobedient children; be home and nestled in your bed before nightfall or the  _ Badb  _ will get you and eat your heart.  In actuality, they were nothing more than a mysterious tribe of people who wanted nothing to do with the outside world but enraged his father by daring to live too closely to their kingdom.  Most had never come in contact with their mysterious neighbors, but those who did rarely survived. The few who did claimed that they looked like demons.

 

Ridiculous nonsense spun by superstitious people.  But hear a tall tale enough times, and truth will start to grow in it.

 

“Are you coming with me or not?” Kevin huffed in annoyance, his breath a white cloud against the bruise colored sky.  “Unlike you,  _ Highness _ , I have a job to do.”

 

Sami rolled his eyes, thankful that the sound of his title on his friend’s lips no longer cut into his soul.  He knew Kevin only did it to annoy him, so he’d stopped giving him the satisfaction of seeing that it worked. He was an impostor, and all who dwelled in the kingdom knew it.  He’d been adopted by the king and queen just after birth, after the two had been married for nearly five years without producing an heir. The story he’d heard was that his mother found him in the foundlings box at the temple during Samhain, and had taken him in out of the pure and encompassing goodness of her heart.  The whispered rumor that followed was that they’d simply killed his natural parents to acquire a child. Not that he could believe it. The core of his identity was wrapped up in the fact that he’d been unwanted. Something further set in stone when Seth was miraculously born two years later. And there was no further need for him.

 

Nobody needed him.

 

“I’m right behind you.”  Sami pushed himself forward, the snow seeping through his thin breeches.  Distantly, he was aware of the fact that Kevin was picking away at him for not dressing warmer, but his words were carried away in the biting wind.  

 

It didn’t take much longer to reach the clearing.  By the time the trees thinned, Sami was shivering almost violently, wrapping his fur lined cloak around his shoulders although it didn’t do anything to keep out the twin vipers of cold and moisture that encircled his ankles.  Kevin kept glaring back at him, his words weaving a tapestry of insults extolling Sami’s absent mindedness and complete naivety. “You may be royalty,” he started, the concern in his eyes betraying his annoyed glower. “But even you,  _ Sunshine _ , must know that snow is cold.  If you insist on coming with me, make sure you wear heavy-”

 

Another scream ripped through the desolate landscape, but this time Sami could see what was happening.  And it made his heart drop through the center of his body.

It was a snow leopard.  One of its hind legs was caught in a vicious looking snap trap, and Sami felt his stomach clench at the jagged metal teeth biting into the animal’s flesh.  It continued to struggle weakly, tugging the trapped leg forward as if it could break free from the crushing trap. But it couldn’t. And seemed to realize it.

 

He’d never seen such a look of crushing despair.

 

Even as Kevin screamed at him to stay back and stop being such an idiot, Sami rushed over to the trapped creature.  “Hey,” he said softly, kneeling down beside the trap and barely feeling the snow assaulting his legs. The leopard didn’t even look up.  “I’m going to help you out of this, I swear.”

 

“You’re going to get your face ripped off!” Kevin stood close behind him, his hand already on the pommel of his sword.  “Do you even know how these things work?”

 

Obviously, he didn’t.  But that didn’t stop him from grasping at both sides of the trap, trying as best as he could to rip it open.  And the crushing feeling of not being good enough...never strong enough or brave enough or just  _ enough _ in general crashed over him when it didn’t budge.  He sobbed once in utter frustration, staring down at the leopard who was still curled in on itself.  Still not looking up. Just staring out in the distance and waiting. Resigned to its fate. “Help me!” Sami was screaming, the hysteria pitching up to compete with his self loathing.

 

“The fuck are you doing?!” A man came sprinting over to them, his eyes wild and dangerous as he reached for his dagger.  “Poaching my kill, are you?”

 

Sami knew that he needed to back off.  He had no legal rights here; this animal belonged to the man who set the trap and there was nothing he could do to change it.  But he had to do  _ something _ .  If he just sat by to let this creature die...those ice blue eyes would haunt his dreams forever.  “It’s not like that.” He squared his shoulders as best he could, trying to project the pompous regal air into his persona with the same deftness that his brother did.  “I want to buy this animal.”

 

“You do?” He couldn’t help shrinking back at the sight of the twisted little smile.  There was nothing friendly about it; this man was the alpha and Sami felt like a small animal ensnared in a trap.

 

“Yes.”  He grasped for his coin purse, hoping that the bratty determination in his voice was masking the fact that his hands were shaking.  “What do you typically charge for a snow leopard pelt?”

 

“Of this size and quality? Twenty gold.”  Sami was already unfastening the strings to pay him, when he felt a massive hand settle against his shoulder.  It was too large. Not painful, but he could almost feel it crushing him. “But this is the entire animal here.  Between the meat and all of the organs, I’m going to need at least eighty gold to let it go.”

 

Sami froze in horror.  He didn’t have nearly that much money on him, and the trapper seemed to know it.  Kevin scoffed in disgust. “You should be arrested for trying to cheat the king’s son.”

 

“Oh, you’re  _ Helmsley’s _ brat?” The trapper’s grin stretched wider, exposing his rotting teeth and making Sami shudder.  “In that case, I should raise the price to one hundred gold.”

 

The leopard was whimpering, dropping his head to bite listlessly at his own flesh.  It seemed like a last ditch effort to free itself. And it broke Sami’s heart. “I...I don’t have that much on me.”  

 

“No money, no cat.”  He shoved Sami to the side, laughing horribly when he fell into a large pile of snow.  “Now fuck off.”

 

He heard Kevin screaming in outrage, but his eyes were so full of embarrassed tears that he could barely see.  There was snow burning into his cheeks and even clinging to his beard, and he wiped at it harshly, the amulet he was given at his coming of age celebration twisting around his neck like a noose.

 

Bingo.

 

“Wait!” Sami rushed back over to the trapper, practically snapping the filmy gold chain in his haste.  “Take this instead.” The larger man glared down at the large gold circle warily, as the unblinking eye of the  _ Seeker _ seemed to be staring right back at him.  

 

“I’m not religious, boy!”

 

_ //neither am I// _

 

“That doesn’t matter.  It’s solid gold, and this-” Sami pointed desperately at the stone that glittered in the center of the stylized eye.  “This is a real emerald. Please.” He thrust the necklace into the trapper’s callused hands. “Let me have him.”

 

“I’ve heard that the king’s oldest was a coward, but I had no idea he was a fool, too.”  He pulled the necklace over his head, the gold circle disappearing into the grimy dark nest of his chest hair.  “If you have any other priceless family heirlooms you’d like to part with, this is usually where I set my traps.”  Sami knew that his parents would be livid with him when they found out what he’d done, but he was just too relieved to care.  “Do you want me to kill it and skin it before I go?”

 

He could only shake his head, too overwhelmed by all that had just happened to speak.  With a few practised movements, the trapper pulled back a lever and removed the bloodstained metal from the leopard’s leg.  The animal tried to scramble up to unsteady legs, but the moment any pressure was placed on the injury, it collapsed into a heap.  And looked up at Sami.

 

He’d never  _ never _ seen that sort of look in the eyes of an animal.

 

The leopard was terrified.  That was more than obvious. But instead of acting on instinct and lashing out in fear, Sami could see the obvious confusion in the ice blue eyes.  “You’re okay,” he said softly. Once he and Kevin were alone, he pressed his hands against the animal’s leg, feeling his magic beginning to swell within him.

 

“I know what you’re fucking thinking.”  Kevin’s harsh words snapped him out of his near trance like a cold blast of water.  “It’s going to hurt you. It always does. So don’t do anything stupid. Or  _ stupider _ , I guess, until I get you home.”

 

His friend was right.  He always was.

 

His hands still shaking, Sami ripped his belt from his hips, tightening it above the leopard’s bleeding leg to stop the flow.  There was more he could do for this creature, but he couldn’t do it now. Not until he was home and out of danger.

 

Because Sami had empathic healing.

 

He didn’t know how it had developed.  It wasn’t anything he’d been trying to learn...why would he want to complicate his life further and become more of an outcast? Magic wasn’t illegal.  It would have been impossible to enforce that. But it was highly... _ highly _ looked down upon.  Good, decent men and women were not corrupted by outside forces and given unnatural abilities.  The more devoted followers of the  _ Seeker _ maintained that magical aptitude was an obvious sign of making a deal with demons.  Even if his ability was used only to help his father’s people, it didn’t matter. It would be a mark against his family.

 

So he hid it.  But due to the way it manifested, hiding it was not much of an option.

 

He could heal injuries, yes.  Not grievous ones, and the flesh still had to be attached to the body.  Sami couldn’t regrow limbs, or cure diseases. Wounds, however. Even deep ones that typically required medical intervention, he could heal.  The cost to him was great, though. Every wound that he took from another was immediately transferred to himself. They’d heal quickly; even a broken limb or deep cut would heal completely heal in a matter of hours instead of weeks.  But he would still suffer. And probably scar.

 

Once the tourniquet was applied, Sami fumbled with the ornate clasp of his cloak, his fingers barely functional in the bitter cold.  “I know you have no reason to trust me, not after what that man did to you. But I promise, I will help you.” He tucked it around the leopard like a blanket, trying to ignore the icy wind that smashed against his thin tunic like a battering ram.

 

“Just when I thought you couldn’t possibly get any stupider.”  Huffing in disgust, Kevin dropped his own cloak around Sami’s trembling shoulders.  It was so much larger than his own that he felt like a young child playing dress up in his father’s clothing.  “Only you would be willing to freeze to death to make sure that an animal totally adapted to living outside remains warm.”  

 

“That’s why they all call me Sunshine, isn’t it?” Sami gently lifted the animal, cradling him tightly to his chest.  He could feel the animal’s breath against him; labored and a bit too fast, but it seemed to be at least somewhat relaxed in his arms.  “So, what do you think about Snowball?”

 

“Are you asking me to throw one at you? Because that can definitely be arranged.”

 

He snorted with the barest hint of amusement.  “Cute. But I wasn’t talking to you.” Sami lightly scratched the leopard behind the ear, smiling slightly as he began to purr like an overgrown housecat.  “Do you like Snowball? I guess it’s not very original. What about Floofy?”

 

“I swear, if you name that thing Floofy, I’ll train it to rip your throat out.”  He felt guilt settle over him at the sound of his friend’s teeth chattering. “Fuck, why can’t you actually be made of sunshine?”

 

“You can take the cloak back.”

 

“And get thrown in the dungeon when you die from influenza? Pass.” Kevin began to walk faster, which had Sami struggling to keep up with him.  “By the light, it is so fucking cold out here. Why don’t you name that thing after something warm?”

 

“Don’t call him a thing.”  Sami raked his fingernails through the animal’s fur, stumbling a bit as his legs caught in Kevin’s oversized cloak.  “What sort of names were you thinking? And if you say “Sunshine,” I reserve the right to have you executed.”

 

“Well now you’re taking away my fun.”  They were close to the castle now, just barely able to see the imposing stone towers that seemed to snake up to pierce the sky.  Deep green banners fluttered atop the highest points, whipping around violently in the winds. If it was quiet, Sami could almost hear the cloth popping and snapping against itself in protest.  “If Sunshine is out of the picture, how about Blaze? Or Inferno?”

 

“Now you’re just mocking me.”  He smiled warily at a small group of soldiers, who all stopped in their tracks to bow deeply at him.  If they were at all surprised to see him clutching a hundred plus pound snow leopard, no one let on. “How did you and Karina agree on a name for your son?”

 

“Don’t compare trying to name that flea bitten cur with my perfect child.”  There was no anger in Kevin’s voice at that, since Sami knew that talking about Owen always made his friend’s icy soul thaw.  Owen was the one thing in his life that Kevin was truly proud of. Even at three weeks of age, the baby could not now, nor ever do any wrong in his father’s eyes.  Sami wished he knew what that was like. Not to have a child per say, but to be so very loved. The very epicenter of someone’s universe and the balm to soothe any troubles in their soul.

 

_ Wait. _

 

“Sol,” he said softly, scratching the huge cat behind the ears once more.

 

“What in creation are you babbling about?”

 

They’d reached the courtyard by this point, and there was already a great deal of commotion.  All standard; the stream of servants rushing to and fro and looking far too harried for the inconsequential tasks that they had to complete.  Templars were there, of course, but they always were. Always surrounded them, ready to take out any threats to the royal family, be they magical or just mundane.  He couldn’t see his brother, but he could hear his piercing nazal laugh somewhere nearby. It made the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. “Sol. In the old tongue, it means  _ sun _ .  Don’t you remember anything from your schooling?”

 

“I’m so fucking tired and cold that I barely remember my name.”  He smiled unconvincingly at one of the maids, who pushed past them both with a large bushel of washing.  “So how about you go slink off upstairs to bed, so I can watch you sleep and try not to do so myself?”

 

After the morning he’d just had, there was no way he’d be able to shut his brain long enough to rest.  Sami cuddled Sol closer, feeling oddly warm as the animal nuzzled the side of his neck. “Alright.” 

 

They fled through the castle like specters.  For such a large man, Kevin was surprisingly nimble and they were able to get up the stairs and into Sami’s bedroom without being noticed.  Since he’d left so early, his chambers were still in disarray from the night before. His bed clothes were tangled at the foot of the bed in a massive lump, and if his mother ever bothered to set foot into his personal chambers, Sami knew that she’d be horrified.  His arms shaking from the strain, he set Sol down gently in the center of his bed, his stomach clenching in revulsion when some of the blood from his matted fur turned his formerly pristine white sheets red. Kevin collapsed heavily in the wingback chair in front of the softly glowing fire, the unease coloring his face along with the soft oranges and pinks from the flame.  

 

He felt his hands beginning to tingle.  Like all of the blood in his body had been replaced with sewing needles that were impaling his insides.  “It’s going to be okay.”

*

_ Safe. _

 

Finn had never felt so very safe before.  Even as a child, when he would soak up the safety and protection that the adults willingly provided him with, it never felt like this.  Safety always felt like a given. But it never made him feel much of anything. And as an adult, when others, even those whom he loved went out of their way to care for him, it made him feel weak.  Unworthy of being a leader.

 

Nothing had ever made him feel like this.

 

There was danger here.  He was in Helmsley’s castle, tucked up in the bedchambers of his oldest son.  Hours ago, maybe even less, Finn would have attacked this boy on sight for no other reason than to atone for the sins of his father.  Helmsley was a monster. The queen was a monster, and if the rumors were to be believed, the apples never fell far from the tree.

 

He’d been so wrong.

 

This boy.  This silly creature with the sadness in his hazel eyes and the hair that gleamed like fire.  There was such kindness in his heart. He should have left him to suffer and die back in the forest.  Truth be told, Finn himself would not have wasted the time and money bartering with that trapper just to spare the life of an animal.  But  _ he _ had.  Even without benefit to himself, this prince had engaged in an act so selfless that Finn could barely wrap his mind around it.

 

And he heard the snap.

 

Finn stared down at the boy in horror as he saw his leg contort in a way that no human limb ever should.  The dark green breeches were turning black and he could smell the blood hanging in the air, like a thick metallic cloud.  His smile was so soft and gentle, even as tears of obvious pain streamed down his pale cheeks. 

 

_ “Why have you done this?!”  _ Obviously, he still had no voice, and even as he tried to scream out his horror, the only sounds that slipped past Finn’s lips were strained growls.  He felt the prince’s fingers in his fur again, tangling lightly between his shoulder blades. Finn hated to be touched. Always had, and even the hugs Rebecca would inflict upon him nightly before bed could be too much to bear.  But now. If this boy was willing to harm himself for Finn’s benefit, the least he could do was to provide physical comfort.

 

He pulled himself closer up onto the prince’s chest, laying his head against the exposed bit of skin between the laces of his tunic.  Maybe it was because his senses were so heightened, but this boy smelled so amazing. Even with the cloying odors of blood and stale sweat, there was still an undercurrent of such sweetness.  Finn’s heart tightened a bit within his chest, and he tried to tell himself that it was just gratitude. 

 

Finn could feel the eyes of the larger man jumping between them.  Based on the polished silver breastplate he wore with the intricate Helmsley family crest carved into it, this was probably the prince’s personal guard.  “Do you want me to get you something? I know how you feel about opium, but-”

 

The prince shook his head quickly, and Finn felt his heart twist more when he felt the flushed face nuzzle into his furred neck.  He could feel the tears seeping into his thick coat, and he found himself wishing that he had the capacity to hold him close.

 

Which was ridiculous.  Beautiful or not. Kind or not, this man was his enemy.  An enemy to his people. He shouldn’t care about his pain.

 

“No.”  It was little more than a whisper, shattering with each of the jagged sobs that ripped up from his core.  “I’ll-I’ll be fine soon, but now. It hurts.”

 

He found himself whimpering without exactly meaning to, squeezing his eyes shut so he no longer had to see.  The pain that was etched so deeply into the prince’s beautiful face that it was like a tangible entity. But hidden deep within, possibly in a place in his soul that the boy didn’t even know about, Finn saw the determination burning just as deeply.  It didn’t matter what the consequences were. This creature would do what he could to help all others, his own life be damned. 

 

Years and years ago.  Back when he and Rebecca were rambunctious children who could only be coaxed into bed with the promise of a story, his mother would weave them tales of miraculous creatures.  He would never admit it, but his favorites were always about the angels. Beautiful creatures. Fiercely protective of everything around them, even creatures that others discounted as insignificant.  Finn knew that these stories were little more than the fantasies of entire generations of his people, silly little tales that they would share for comfort when it seemed like the world was too dark and cold.  But now. Laying here in the warm circle of the prince’s embrace, Finn felt so unworthy. Because he was so sure that this beautiful man was  _ his _ angel.


End file.
